Payment
by Vialana
Summary: Hilary/Tyson :: After an eventful afternoon, Tyson finds himself in Hilary's bad books. So, to pay her back, he decides to take her shopping. Their trip turns out to be more interesting than he anticipated.


**Disclaimer: I do not in any way own the series Beyblade or any of its characters featured in this fan fiction.__**

_... Okay, my usual readers, you did read right, this is a Tyson/Hilary *ducks at various thrown objects* I know, I so very rarely write het stories and never in Beyblade has a main character been female ... actually I've never finished a het romance. Please no flames, I just had the cutest idea and had to write it. If you're not totally against this then go ahead, you might enjoy it._

_For my other readers ... well, you probably won't find anything else like this by me, maybe it'll be a one off, maybe not, but this is my first time writing this pairing._

_I hope everyone enjoys this anyway._

_Warnings: ... strange, this is the first time I've never had to put no real warnings about stuff. Maybe a bit of innuendo ... maybe, not sure yet. Possibly mild swearing._

**Payment**

"Hey, stop him!"

            Six heads turned around at the shout and eyes widened as a man came racing towards them. They vaguely registered hearing sirens and alarms as he pushed past them, toppling some to the ground and grabbing another, pulling her along the street and around the corner.

            "Ah!"

            "Hilary!" Tyson ran for her, not hearing the shouts of his friends on the ground calling for him to wait or come back. While those four got back to their feet, the midnight haired boy raced for the man, his anger and fear spurring him on.

            "Let me go!"

            He followed the sounds of Hilary's voice, turning the corner and seeing the man dash around another corner. Hilary spotted him and he saw her eyes widen just as she disappeared. Tyson ran after them, grinning. The guy had just run down an alley with a dead end.

            He entered the alley as soon as he reached it. He frowned seeing no one at first, then he heard Hilary struggling, her voice muffled slightly. The guy must have put his hand over her mouth or something. Tyson ran for them.

            "Stop right there kid." Tyson froze as he came across the two of them. Hilary's eyes were wide and she looked close to tears as she stared at Tyson. The man held her by the mouth, his other hand occupied by a very sharp knife at her throat. He grinned at Tyson, who glared at him. "Make one more move and your girlfriend's blood decorates the walls."

            Tyson stared at Hilary and nodded.

            "Good boy, now you're going to stand aside and let me pass right by and you're not going to do another thing, is that clear?"

            "You creep," Tyson growled.

            The man grinned. "You better believe it kid." He moved towards Tyson, Hilary still close by. "Now watch the girlie." Without warning the man threw Hilary at Tyson with enough force to push them both to the ground. Hilary cried out and Tyson grabbed at her, vaguely hearing the sounds of the man scaling the wooden fence and running into the next alley.

            "Hilary, are you all right?" Tyson asked, looking at her as they both sat up. He looked at her carefully and noticed a thin trail of blood across her neck. He quickly took of his vest and held it up to her neck, stopping the slight blood flow. She stared at him, looking a bit shocked, then she suddenly flung herself at him.

            "Oh, Tyson," she sobbed. Tyson looked startled and he turned around gratefully as he heard the sounds of people approaching.

            "Tyson?" Max called out from the alley. The rest of his team soon joined him seeing the two of them on the dirty alley floor. Max ran straight for the two of them, horrified by the scene.

            "Take care of her," Tyson said, pressing Max's hand against the rumbled red vest. Max looked confused, but Tyson just jumped up and ran for the fence. "I'm going after the guy who did this."

            "Tyson wait!" Rei called out, but it was no use, Tyson was already jumping down on the other side.

            "Idiot!" Kai fumed. "Max, take care of Hilary. Kenny, call the ambulance and police tell them about this. Rei, you're with me, we've got to stop him doing something stupid."

            "Right." The two older bladers ran for the fence and scaled it like Tyson had and ran down the alleyway, seeing the long-haired blader disappear around one corner.

            Tyson of course didn't realise this, being too busy chasing after the guy who hurt Hilary. It was a good thing he was so fit and the criminal not so fit, else he would have lost him before. The guy turned around and saw Tyson and put on an extra burst of speed.

            "Oh no you don't," Tyson growled and sprinted after him. He could vaguely hear the sounds of sirens in the distance, but took no note of them, totally fixated on the man before him. He saw him dash across the road and duck down another alley. Tyson took a quick look and ran after him, smirking as he realised the guy had gone down another dead end, only this time there really was no exit.

            The guy seemed to realise this too and turned around.

            "The police are on their way," Tyson informed him coldly.

            "I'm not going to be here when they do, they'll just find your bloody torn up body kid." The man had his knife out again and Tyson paled slightly, taking one step back. Then he smirked and pulled out his blade and launcher, seeing an opportunity. The man laughed at him, but Tyson released Dragoon right at a trash can the guy was running towards. He toppled over and fell back into a large pile of scrap wood, leaning against one of the walls. He was stunned by the blows and Tyson heard the sound of running feet as well as sirens approaching him.

            "He's over here!" he called out just as Rei and Kai entered the mouth of the alley. They stared at the mess then at Tyson who was grinning, though looking darkly satisfied with the outcome of the chase. "That'll teach you for hurting my friend."

            The man glared at him through his stunned daze and would have run at him, but the police had arrived on the scene by then and ran over to take him into custody. Tyson glared at him as he passed by then was suddenly accosted by Rei and Kai.

            "What did you think you were doing?" his captain demanded of him.

            Tyson shrugged. "I couldn't just let him get away. You saw what he did to Hilary and I was already close to him."

            Kai shook his head and Rei sighed. "You still should have been more careful Tyson," he said. "But I do understand why you did it."

            "Is she all right?" Tyson asked worriedly.

            "She's fine, just a little stunned," Kai told him. "It was barely more than a nick, nothing serious."

            Tyson nodded. "I want to find her, make sure she's fine."

            "Not yet." Kai gestured over his shoulder. "I'm sure they'll have questions for you to answer." The police were walking towards them, the criminal already in a car heading to the station for charges and questioning. Tyson sighed at this, but went over to the officers to tell them what happened.

***

Hilary looked around anxiously, Max walking beside her, making sure she was all right, but she came close to ignoring him, in her desire to find Tyson.

            Spotting three familiar figures, she rushed over, Max and Kenny in tow. "Tyson," she called out.

            Tyson turned around, having just finished with the officers, upon hearing his name. Before he could say anything though, he was being held tightly by Hilary, who was sobbing lightly onto his shoulder.

            "You idiot," she berated, sniffing and pulling away to look at him. "You could have been killed or something. You scared me out of my wits when you ran off like that."

            "You did," Max concurred, wincing in remembrance. "She almost yelled my ear off when she realised what you'd done."

            Tyson looked sheepish. "Sorry Hil, I had to do it. He hurt you." So saying, Tyson's face turned serious and he took her chin in his hand, turning her head so he could see her cut.

            Hilary blushed at his actions. "It's just a scrape," she murmured quietly, trying to get rid of the feelings that suddenly sprung up as he touched her. She glared at him and pulled away from him, putting her hands on her hips. "But you could have gotten something worse. Did you even stop to think how we would have felt if you'd died Tyson?"

            Tyson looked taken aback at her outburst. It wasn't really the yelling that had him off guard (he was rather used to Hilary yelling at him), but the worried way she sounded and looked. "I'm really sorry Hilary, I guess I didn't think. I never really do." Hilary opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off with a grin. "Why don't I make it up to you somehow? I really didn't mean to scare you, so why don't I do something nice for you, like take you shopping or something?"

            Hilary stared at him, then she suddenly grinned. "Shopping? I haven't been shopping in ages." He stared at him, her smile fading slightly. "But … you really want to make it up to me?"

            "Yeah, you're right, something really bad could have happened, and I really didn't mean to freak you out, he just made me so furious! I mean, you could have been killed!"

            Hilary's eyes were wide and she was staring at Tyson rather strangely. He was too preoccupied with everything to notice anything else, but the others were looking at them rather strangely.

            Max was grinning rather slyly and he shared a glance with the curious Rei, then they two of them suddenly had very devious expressions on their faces. Kenny was looking back and forth between Tyson and Hilary with a frown. Finally he sighed and muttered something almost inaudible under his breath, which only Kai caught. It sounded like, "It was bound to happen sooner or later," but Kai couldn't be sure. As for the captain himself, he was completely aware of everything that was going on and was wondering when everything would be over. You wouldn't have known it, but he was close to despairing, predicting the events that would soon be overwhelming them.

            This weekend was going to be so long.

***

It was Friday and at school everyone was still talking about the bank robbery from yesterday afternoon. They knew that Hilary had almost been killed and that the Bladebreakers had something to do with it, but nothing specific. Kenny had just hid from anyone asking and Hilary just glared. But Tyson …

            As the final bell rang there were still people gathered around him, wanting to know what happened. Hilary was shaking her head in disgust, knowing Tyson was going to make a big deal out of trying to save her and capturing the criminal. He always did things like that. But as she passed by, she stopped in amazement as she heard what he was really telling everyone.

            "So Tyson, what really happened?"

            Tyson shrugged and looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there at the moment. "Um, nothing much, we were just walking and then this guy ran past and grabbed Hilary. We all tried to run after him, but he jumped over and alley fence when he saw us, and almost seriously hurt Hilary as he tried to run away."

            "Then what happened?"

            Tyson shrugged again. "He was cornered; the police took him in, the usual."

            Hilary started at him and as he looked up to meet her gaze, Tyson, amazingly blushed slightly and stood up. "Well, I should be going home now. Kenny, Hilary, you guys coming?"

            "Yeah." Kenny came over and Tyson grabbed both of their hands and ran out of the classroom in a rush. Seeing that no one had followed after them, Tyson released them a few blocks away from the school and looked around carefully.

            "Man, I thought they'd be over that by now."

            "Well," Kenny started, "It did only happen yesterday."

            "But I told everyone what happened already, it's like they don't believe me or something."

            "But you were lying Tyson," Kenny pointed out.

            "But I'm so good at making up stories like that, why wouldn't they believe me?"

            Hilary was still staring at Tyson. "Why did you do that?" she asked quietly as they started walking to Tyson's dojo again. Tyson looked over at her curiously. "Why did you lie? You were a hero, why didn't you tell them?"

            Tyson looked a bit uncomfortable. "I thought you wouldn't want me to tell them about all that, you know how I ran after you and tried to save you and everything."

            Hilary was speechless. Tyson was continually surprising her with his actions over the past few days. He was thinking about her more and being more modest. It was almost as though he was starting to grow up. Hilary had to admit she sort of liked it, but she had to wonder if something was wrong. She was going to ask just that when Tyson turned his goofy, yet dazzling smile on her and spoke.

            "So, when did you want to meet up tomorrow?"

            "Huh?"

            "So I could take you to the mall."

            Hilary shook her head. "Really Tyson, you don't have to do that."

            "But I want to."

            Hilary stared at him. "Really?" her breath caught in anticipation of his answer.

            Tyson licked his lips nervously and nodded. "Yeah, I do. I mean, I guess it's sort of making up for all the times I screwed up, especially with you."

            "Oh." Hilary's heart fell slightly, but she smiled anyway. "Um, then I guess any time is fine."

            "Cool." Tyson grinned. "So, what's on the schedule for today?"

            Kenny watched the two of them as they started talking about various things, strangely getting along rather well. He glanced between the two with the faint signs of a smile on his face. He knew they were bound to find some way to connect eventually, though it was probably going to take a bit longer for the two of them to admit things to each other. But then, perhaps Saturday would bring rather interesting results.

***

Hilary searched frantically through her closet for a suitable outfit. Okay, sure today wasn't _technically_ a date, but she still did want to impress Tyson.

            Wait … impress _Tyson?_ What was going on with her?

            Hilary suddenly gasped as she came to a conclusion about everything she had been felling lately. "Oh my gosh! I like Tyson! Ahhhh!!!!" She started to cry, until her mother came in frantically trying to find out why her daughter was acting so strangely.

            Hilary sniffed and looked up at her extremely worried mother and managed a fake smile. "I'm sorry, I just found a stain on one of my skirts that I wanted to wear." Her mother looked slightly mollified at this and backed out of her room to let her change.

            Hilary sat on her bed for a while just thinking things over calmly. "Okay," she said aloud, getting up and pacing as she thought. "So, I appear to have developed feelings for Tyson. Well, he did save me, and he has been rather nice to me lately, not to mention he's not as bad a jerk as I thought at first, I have been getting to know him better." She smiled rather dreamily and added, "And he is rather cute."

            There was a pause then … "Ah! No! I did not just say that!"

***

Tyson paced nervously.

            He was still dressed in just boxers and socks and his hair was loose and rather messy. He was a wreck. Things had gotten out of control without him even knowing. But then, after that dream last night, it should have made things so much clearer rather than foggier.

            Should have. But then waking up from an extremely soppy romantic dream about kissing Hilary on a warm autumn afternoon just as the sun was setting would confuse anyone, especially Tyson. Didn't he hate Hilary?

            If so then why did he suddenly feel rather fluttery when he looked at her, and why was he so angry when she was hurt, and why did he insist upon this 'date'? Any why oh why did he have that dream if he didn't like her so much?

            "I must be going crazy," he muttered.

            "Obviously," came a voice from his doorway. Tyson turned to find Kai standing staring at him. And was that the hint of an amused smile on his lips? Tyson scowled, which only seemed to cause the imaginary smile to deepen. "You do realise the first sign of madness if talking to yourself? But then again, I've known you were crazy for a long time."

            Tyson glared at him. "Did you come here just to annoy me or was there a purpose to standing in my doorway?"

            Kai shrugged. "A bit of both I guess. Enjoy yourself today Tyson, don't think too much about things, just relax and have fun."

            Tyson stared as Kai walked off then.

            "I didn't know he could give positive advice like that."

***

"Just what are we doing?" Rei whispered to Max as they stealthily trailed Tyson as he made his way to the mall.

            "Following Tyson."

            "I know that, but what's this all for?"

            "So we can watch him and Hilary finally admit their love." You could almost see the huge bright pink hearts in Max's eyes as he said this. Rei rolled his eyes, but grinned anyway.

            "Okay then, so we're spying."

            "Basically. Did you have anything else planned for the day?"

            Rei shrugged. "Not really and I'm sure this will be more fun than anything I could have come up with."

            "It's settled then, we're watching Tyson and Hilary." The two were about to follow Tyson around a corner when they suddenly realised they couldn't move.

            "Haven't you two out-grown playing spy-games?"

            Max and Rei gulped in unison and turned to look up at Kai, who was still holding their shirts so they couldn't move. He was staring at them impassively, an eyebrow raised in inquiry.

            Rei finally sighed. "Come on Kai, you have to admit you're curious to see what happens today. I know you think they belong together and you're just as interested as we are to see this."

            Kai opened his mouth in protest, but Max cut him off with a glare. "Come on, Tyson's getting away."

            "You already know the way to the mall," Kai said exasperatedly.

            "But we want to be there when Tyson and Hilary meet up."

            "No _we don't." Kai let the two of them down. "You two can waste your time if you want to, but I'm training. Kenny's not taking the day off to do something this silly, he's upgrading your blades, I do believe."_

            Rei rolled his eyes and sighed. He shared an evil look with Max that would have had any normal person looking around nervously for a place to hide, but Kai just stared at them imperiously as he always did. Rei grabbed onto the end of his scarf and pulled him along as they suddenly took off, chasing after Tyson, Kai protesting with every step.

            Today would be fun for two of them at least.

***

Despite what Kai thought, Kenny was not in fact upgrading Draciel and Drigger, he was, in actuality, using his wondrous skills to tap into the feed for the security cameras at the mall and the surrounding area. He wanted to get everything on tape if he could.

            Just for purely innocent purposes of course. Definitely not for humiliating Tyson and Hilary in any way. Of course not. Kenny wasn't like that.

            He'd made Max and Rei carry a camera just as another precaution. He didn't want to miss anything good. And if he happened to catch a few humiliating shots of Kai, like the ones he was currently seeing from Rei's hidden camera, then so much the better. Even more blackmail material.

            *Cough* … no, not blackmail material, just … Kenny sighed and gave up. He was being evil and everyone knew it, but where was the fun in always being so straight-laced?

***

Back to Tyson …

            He looked down at his watch nervously and realised he was still a few minutes early (shock of the century) and he was pacing out the front of the mall in a rather agitated way, causing a few people to stare at him curiously. But Tyson took no notice of this, smoothing down his clothes with shaking hands and smoothing back his hair. He'd left his lucky baseball cap at home today and he was starting to regret that decision. He wondered absently how Hilary looked and shook his head, forcing himself not to daydream.

            He had it bad, he realised with a sinking stomach.

            "Hey Tyson."

            Tyson nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard Hilary's voice so close to his ear. He turned around to say something to her, but his words died on his lips as he saw her.

            Hilary was wearing a rather nice halter-neck dress, baby-blue, that fitted her tightly around her torso and flared out slightly at her waist and came down to just above her knees. She had a white handbag and simple white sandals to match as well as a white headband in her hair. She stood nervously as Tyson surveyed her, blushing slightly.

            "My mother thought I should wear this, I never wear it much and it was such a nice day that I thought it might be good, not too cold and I thought I might, cause I kinda like it, but I really wasn't sure …" Hilary trailed off with a blush as she realised she was rambling. "Sorry."

            Tyson grinned. "It's okay, you look … really nice Hilary." He'd wanted to say 'absolutely stunningly gorgeous' but his mouth just wouldn't form around the words. He blushed suddenly and held out his arm. "Shall we then?"

            Hilary took his arm and nodded, smiling at his actions.

            Perhaps Tyson did know how to treat a girl right.

***

"Did you see that?" Max gasped.

            Rei grinned. "I sure did. Those two so have it bad for each other." He and Max shared another evil glance and began planning something to "help the two of them along". They were crouching behind a row of plants out the front of the mall, surveying everything that was going on.

            While this was going on, Kai was sitting nearby frantically trying to loosen his scarf enough so he could slip it over his head and escape the evil duo. He couldn't undo it normally considering Rei still held one end tightly in his grasp. Of course while he was doing this, he didn't seem to notice the shadow fall across him until he heard Rei clearing his throat.

            Kai looked up and glared, his hands falling to his sides. "You know, I never wanted to be a part of this in the first place," he told them firmly as they grabbed his arms and hauled him up and into the mall so they could follow Tyson and Hilary. His protests went completely unnoticed however, but Kai still tried, saying, "Don't you think it's rather rude to be spying on your friends like this?"

            "Not really," Rei said. "We just didn't want to miss the momentous event." Those sharpened incisors certainly made his grin look even eviler. And anyone who said that Max was innocent never saw him that day.

            Kai sighed and let them drag him away, planning to escape later once they'd gotten slack with watching over him. However, Rei seemed to know what he was thinking and Kai paled when he realised where they were going first.

            "Damn it, I just can't win," he muttered darkly, mentally reminding himself to give the two of them lots of extra training for a while. Correction, make that for a very long while. Eternity had a nice ring to it.

***

Of course Tyson and Hilary were completely unaware of Kai's plight as he futilely tried to save their privacy from their nosy and evil team-mates and friends. They were instead heading towards one of Hilary's favourite shops.

            Tyson paled when he saw it, but steeled himself and stepped over the threshold. Any man would applaud him for his bravery this day, for taking a woman shopping usually meant something like this, yet they never really prepared for it.

            Women's clothing stores.

            Shuddering slightly, Tyson took a hesitant look around the shop and almost winced at the brightness of it all.

            Hilary was tugging at his arm and pointing out various items she wouldn't mind having. Tyson wondered idly if that was a hint to him. Perhaps it would be best to just ignore them … or store the comments for later, like in time for her birthday.

            Hilary could see Tyson was getting a bit bored by this, but he did promise after all. Still it was rather funny seeing him looking so uncomfortable in his surroundings. And feeling uncomfortable at the stares he was getting from the other girls in the store. He was attractive, _very attractive, especially with his cap off today, dressed in those black jeans and tight red top. Of course though, the light grey over-shirt and the black fingerless gloves, like the ones he always wore, made him look like he normally did, but this time with a bit more pizzazz. He looked delectable. But of course this was no reason for him to be admired so by other girls, couldn't they see he was with Hilary? No one was supposed to be looking at him like that, Tyson was hers!_

            And that thought caused her to halt and pale noticeably.

            Tyson frowned as he saw her stop. "Hilary? Are you all right?"

            Hilary started at his voice and smiled at him and shook her head. "I'm fine, just fine Tyson. Do you mind if I go try this on?" She held out an outfit.

            Tyson hesitated, but he did promise. "Sure."

            "Great." Hilary dragged him over to near the changing rooms so he could tell her his opinion as soon as she had it on. Tyson sighed, but at least he wasn't among the clothing any more, or among the other girls.

            He saw the way they looked at him and he hated it. He only wanted one particular girl to look at him like that and thus far, she hadn't. Tyson sighed, waiting for Hilary to come out.

***

"We can't follow them in there," Rei protested. "Not without being dragged in there by a girl."

            "Well," Max began, looking thoughtful as he glanced at Kai.

            "There are limits Max," Kai told him in an extremely cold voice. "And don't you think that putting a lock around my scarf and tying my hands up is enough all ready?"

            Rei snickered at this, making sure to position the camera so Kenny could get a few shots of Kai like he was. They had gone to a small hardware store and had gotten a nifty little chain and padlock, just a small one and the chain was thin and looked sort of ornamental. Rei had skilfully made it so that Kai couldn't escape by loosening his scarf. Just to be on the safe side, they got some rope and tied his hands together.

            The day was turning out to be more fun than they'd originally planned.

            Of course Kai had to be a bit of a spoilsport and not want to go into the store and pretend he was getting something for "a friend" (Max's other idea that he dress up as a girl and spy on them like that would have taken too much time) but Rei and Max decided they'd get him back later.

            So they watched the store and continued following Tyson and Hilary around, not noticing that Kai had picked up a little bit of metal wire from somewhere along the way and was currently reaching behind his head to where the padlock was situated and awkwardly trying to unlock it.

            Amazingly, they managed to get all the way to the food court before Rei heard faint noises that sounded suspiciously like someone trying to pick a lock. Rei turned around and glared at Kai, who had almost gotten through the lock. He sighed and lowered his bound hands, waiting for whatever they would throw at him this time.

***

After a few shops and more lingering gazes from various strange females, Tyson finally asked 'politely' to go elsewhere. Hilary only agreed because she was getting just as ticked off as he was. Just because they weren't _actually_ a couple and not even acting like it didn't mean they could ogle _her Tyson like that._

            Yes, Hilary is rather possessive.

            They finally decided on the food court. Well, truthfully _Tyson decided on the food court, but Hilary decided to go along with it. They had to get lunch out of the way sooner or later. She would have preferred later, much later, considering Tyson's eating habits, but they had done what she wanted for a while._

            Though, thinking back on it, this might have been a mistake. They had been here for over and hour and Tyson was only just started on desert and didn't look to be finishing any time soon. Hilary's irritation seemed to be growing with every bite he took until she finally snapped.

            "Tyson," she started, slamming her hand down on the table. Unfortunately, the heel of her palm landed right on the edge of a spoon in her half eaten ice-cream.

            Tyson suddenly blinked, wondering why he could feel something cold and sticky running down his face. Looking over at Hilary and seeing her surprised expression and the blush starting to seep over her cheeks he realised what it was. Tyson smirked. "You are so in for it Hilary." He raised his own spoon and she held out her hands, trying to stop him, but it was futile, chocolate ice-cream suddenly dripped from her nose to her chin.

            Tyson grinned, until he felt Hilary smear caramel topping from cheek to cheek. That was it, now it was war.

***

Max and Rei watched in amazement from the first shot then soon found themselves doubling over with laughter (though still making sure everything could be seen by the camera … they didn't want to miss watching this again). Behind his desk far away, Kenny was in the exact same stare, though he didn't wave to watch out for anything but his computer set-up.

            Kai would have been shaking his head at the immaturity he saw, if not for the fact that he could hardly move his head and torso in anyway. He looked around carefully at Rei and Max and saw they were completely occupied then tried to free himself. But nothing seemed to be working, well that is until he realised that Max had tied him up so that he could actually reach his bonds with his teeth.

            However, once again he was caught before he could get very far, this time by Max, who looked rather annoyed at having to drag himself from the food-fight between the two smitten teens.

            Kai rolled his eyes. "Like it will matter that I'm here anyway," he muttered. "What are you going to do now? Gag me?"

            Kai could have kicked himself … really, he would have, if he could.

***

"Truce."

            Tyson, who was about to smear some ice-cream into Hilary's hair, stopped. "Fine, truce."

            Hilary sighed in relief. As soon as she saw he was about to go for her hair, she had to do something. She picked up a napkin and started wiping at her neck and face. Tyson did the same. Soon both were almost clean.

            "You missed a spot." Tyson frowned and tried to wipe at his face again, but Hilary leaned over and quickly wiped at something on his cheek. She smiled. "All better now."

            Tyson stared at her and leaned in further. Hilary froze, wondering what exactly he was doing (as were all of their watchers … those who were not feeling disgruntled about being tied and gagged at least). Her breath caught and her eyes widened as he took her face in his hands and gently placed his lips on her cheek for a moment, then Tyson drew back with a smile.

            "Didn't want to waste the chocolate ice-cream," he told her.

            Hilary blinked, still not totally comprehending what just happened. Tyson quickly threw the trash away and left their trays where they were supposed to be left as she sat there with a faint blush on her face trying to figure things out.

            "Ready to get going again?" he asked, holding out his hand.

            Hilary shook her head and nodded, letting him help her to her feet. They walked through the mall and out to the main courtyard entrance, Hilary still wondering about everything.

            _Did he really kiss me and just cover it up with a joke, or was it all just a joke about the ice-cream to begin with? Hilary didn't know what to believe, but one thing she did notice was that Tyson continued to hold her hand as they made their way back to the entrance._

***

_This is cruel and inhumane!_

            People stared as Rei, Max and Kai all passed. Firstly because Rei and Max were acting like they were in a spy movie or something, with their sideway's glances and dodging all over the place. Secondly, they stared because Kai was now tied up and gagged and looking very pissed off, to say the least. And finally because on top of that Kai was now being dragged forcibly behind Rei. What made things even worse was that people pointed at them with huge smiles, recognising them.

            Kai was never going to live this down.

***

Tyson sat on the edge of the water fountain in the courtyard entrance to the mall, looking down at all the coins people had thrown in there over the years through the rippling water.

            Hilary was beside him, frantically scrubbing at a stain on her dress. Tyson felt a bit guilty about that, he did throw chocolate ice-cream at her, but Hilary had already told him not to apologise for it, so he didn't any more. But he still felt guilty, it was a nice dress and Hilary looked really good in it.

            "Do you want to wait here for just a moment?" he asked.

            Hilary looked surprised but nodded. "Sure." She watched curiously as Tyson quickly dashed off somewhere then sighed, looking back down at the stain.

            Tyson had only been gone a few minutes, in which Hilary had already given up on the stain until she got home, before he returned, a bag in his hand. He gave it to Hilary who looked rather curious.

            "Open it," he grinned. She did so and gasped.

            "You didn't!"

            "Obviously I did."

            "Tyson …" Hilary shook her head in amazement, staring at the outfit he'd bought her. It was one she had tried on earlier and loved, but didn't have enough money to buy. "I can't accept this."

            "But you wanted it and I thought you looked really great in it. Plus, it's my fault your dress got ice-cream all over it." Hilary was about to protest again when Tyson held up his hands. "I won't let you argue with me this time Hilary, can't you let me do something nice for you for once?"

            Hilary smiled shyly at him and nodded. "Thank you Tyson, I love it." She hugged him then grabbed his arm, taking him back inside. "Wait here," she said as she headed into the bathroom to change.

            When she came out, Tyson was really glad he had taken notice of what she liked, because she looked absolutely stunning in the simple tight black pants and white and black sleeveless top. He grinned at her. "Better now?"

            "Much, thank you again." Hilary gave him another hug. "Want to go see a movie?"

            Tyson grinned. "Sounds perfect."

***

"What are they doing?" Rei asked, not daring to take his eyes off Kai for a moment this time.

            "Choosing a movie," Max told him. Then he grimaced. "Actually, it's more like arguing." And indeed it was. Perhaps going to see a movie wasn't the perfect idea after all. Tyson wanted to see some kill-em-all blow-em-up action movie, while Hilary argued for the dramatic tragic romance. They didn't seem to be convincing each other and neither seemed to be backing down at all.

            Rei moved over, thinking Kai would be all right for now, so he could watch the unfolding drama also.

            Of course this was a bad move on his part as Kai tried desperately to break free of his bonds. Suddenly, he finally a got a break. One of the kids who recognised them earlier wandered over. Kai gestured desperately with his head as much as he could for the kid to come over. The little boy did so and pulled down Kai's gag.

            "Listen," Kai whispered quietly, shooting looks at Rei and Max. "If you help me out of this, I'll give you five free lessons on blading technique." Kai certainly was desperate, he never offered anyone lessons. The kid grinned and started to untie the ropes around Kai's arms and torso, while Kai used his teeth for the ones on his hands again. Finally he was free, but there was still the matter of the lock and chain.

            "I want you to distract Rei and Max, ask for autographs, blading tips, photos, whatever, just keep them occupied and don't even look at me while you're doing it okay?" The kid nodded and rushed over to them while Kai used a piece of metal (he'd kept a spare in his pocket when he'd found them) to pick at his lock. He could hear the boy's exclamations and eager requests and thanked him mentally. What was even better was that it drew even more kids around to them, giving Kai his chance to unlock himself finally.

            He softly pulled away the chain and started to loosen his scarf, just enough to finally slip his head out of. And he was free. Giving the kid a thumbs-up, Kai started to sneak off.

            "Hold it!"

            Kai whirled around and glared at Max who had only just noticed him. The kids were still pestering Rei, but there were only a few now. Max folded his arms across his chest. "Where do you think you're going?"

            "Home, I didn't want to be here in the first place."

            Max sighed and pouted. "Fine. You obviously have no idea what fun is Kai. You're probably going to end up an old and boring man with no social life."

            "Yes, because we all know that spying on our friends going on dates is all the rage these days." Kai rolled his eyes. "I'm out of here." He started to walk off.

            "Max! They've chosen a movie, we've got to go catch them." Rei grabbed Max's hand and would have taken off, but he was held back by Kai, who had walked back hearing his words.

            "I though you were leaving," Max said.

            "You're both coming with me, I think you've seen enough of Tyson and Hilary today, so just leave them alone. And I want those tapes thrown away Kenny." Max and Rei looked startled, not realising Kai knew about Kenny's involvement. But before they could protest further, Kai dragged them away out of the mall, leaving Tyson and Hilary to have their privacy.

            Kai sighed. _I should have done this earlier._

***

They had decided on something in the middle finally after a very long and loud argument, some slightly humorous action/adventure type movie with a romantic plot line. It wasn't too bad, but neither were concentrating much on the movie, more on each other and their nerves.

            But now the day was over and the two were walking back alongside the canal as the sun set on a rather fun day.

            Hilary looked over at Tyson with a small smile. "Thank you for today, Tyson, I really enjoyed myself."

            Tyson grinned. "Me too. You're pretty okay to hang around with Hilary."

            "Back at you."

            Tyson chuckled. "Do you think the guys will believe us when we tell them we only really argued once the entire day?"

            "Probably not." They shared a quick laugh then walked a bit further in a content silence.

            Hilary bit down on her lip, glancing nervously at the boy beside her as she walked. Today had been a real eye-opener for her. Tyson was actually a pretty decent guy, despite her original objections to him, and throughout the day she'd found herself becoming more infatuated with him. But what really made her anxious was the fact that sometimes she thought that maybe Tyson sort of felt the same way about her.

            "Tyson?"

            Tyson looked around at Hilary. "Yeah?"

            Hilary steeled herself then leaned up and kissed him lingeringly on the cheek. As she pulled back she knew she had a blush and a smile on her face, but she couldn't help it. "I really did have fun and I think I realised you're not as bad as I thought before."

            Tyson barely heard her words, still stunned by her actions. Hilary had just kissed him, he couldn't believe it. He knew he sort of liked her, but did she really feel the same way? He gulped, knowing there was only one way to find out.

            Hilary looked startled as Tyson cupped her chin in his hands and leaned in, then he softly breathed her name and she was suddenly lost in the most delightful sensations as she felt his lips caress hers in a firm yet gentle kiss. She reached up her hands and wrapped them around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair and drawing him closer.

            It was the perfect end for both of them for a perfect first date.

***

Up on the hill above them, someone stood watching the scene playing before the setting sun with a soft amused smile on his features. Kai was glad that things worked out as they were supposed to and that the two below had finally found each other.

            He turned away, whistling slightly, thinking of many things. Love, romance, happiness, and the many hours of painful tortuous training he was going to put Rei, Max and Kenny through over the next few weeks.

            Life was good.

_AN: Aw, how sweet. My first Tyson/Hilary and my first ever finished het romance fic. Yay for me! Hope you all enjoyed that, both the romance and the humour. And yes, I know Kai doesn't have a scarf in V-Force, but it was convenient. But still, aw, Tyson and Hilary are just too cute._

_Well, that's all for now._

_Laters._


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